Health Center To Offer Free Student Flu Shots

With most states reporting high flu levels this year, SHSU’s Student Health Center is offering students who missed their vaccination clinic in the fall the opportunity to get it now.

Free vaccinations will be disseminated to currently enrolled students on Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb. 5-6), from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Lowman Student Center Mall Area. The vaccination will also be administered to SHSU students at The Woodlands Campus, in room 141, on Thursday (Feb. 7), also from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“The fall is the only time that we offer a free flu vaccination clinic, but because of the lower turnout during the fall clinic and the high number of reported flu cases, we decided to move forward with another student-only free flu vaccination clinic,” said Sarah Hanel, SHC director.

Because of the unpredictable nature of the flu, Hanel said the SHC encourages students to get the vaccination if they have not already. Flu activity most commonly peaks in the United States in January or February, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“By receiving the vaccine, you are protecting yourself from potentially contracting the virus from others,” Hanel said. “When you are in confined spaces, such as a classroom setting, your chance of contracting the virus increases.”

To decrease the odds of contracting the flu, the CDC recommends receiving the flu vaccine; practicing proper cough and sneeze etiquette to prevent the spread of germs; washing your hands regularly; avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth; and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces at home, work or school, especially when someone is ill.

“If you get sick with flu-like illness, visit your practitioner’s office; there are antiviral medications that can treat the flu,” Hanel said. “The Student Health Center offers Tamiflu, by prescription only, for $25 to students. At outside pharmacies, Tamiflu can cost around $137 out-of-pocket.”

In the event of inclement weather, the main campus vaccinations will be provided in the LSC Atrium.

Students should bring their Bearkat OneCard in order to receive their free vaccination, or have their student ID number on hand, and should dress appropriately to receive the shot.

Students who received the vaccination in the fall do not need to get another vaccination.

Cajun Band To Bring Mardi Gras Spirit To Campus

Sam Houston State University will get into the Mardi Gras spirit a few days early this year, celebrating the Louisiana culture with the 11th annual Cajun Mardi Gras Festival on Thursday (Feb. 7).

Festivities will include a symposium on Mardi Gras and Cajun music and culture, as well as the annual Mardi Gras dance.

The symposium, which will begin at 6 p.m. in Evans Building Room 105, will feature a panel discussion with Jambalaya Cajun Band Members Terry Huval and Reggie Matte, Cajun music hall of fame member and Grammy nominee D. L. Menard and moderator and Cajun historian Terry Thibodeaux, professor of communications studies at SHSU.

The group will discuss the history of the Cajun people, its music and the tradition of Mardi Gras.

“D.L. Menard always bring a certain humor and charm to the proceedings,” said Thibodeaux, who created the festival at SHSU in 2003. “Songs will be played and discussed by the musicians to illustrate the various traditional and popular Cajun styles of music.”

The symposium is open to the public, who are encouraged to ask questions and participate.

That evening the five-member Jambalaya Cajun Band, from Lafayette, La., joined by Menard, will play a traditional dance in the “fais do do” style during the Cajun Mardi Gras Dance, from 8-10 p.m.

“The ‘fais do do’ style has chairs around the edges of the room and dancers wind their way around the center as they dance in the traditional counter-clockwise pattern found at any Cajun dance anywhere in Louisiana,” Thibodeaux said.

“Regulars at the SHSU dance are happy to show rookies how to do the Cajun version of the waltz and two-step,” he said, “and dancers often find themselves dodging not only other dancers but also Terry Huval as he occasionally plays his fiddle amidst the dancers.

"They play some wonderful dance music, and we have a good time every year.”

Officer To Get ‘Real’ About Juvenile Probation

As the largest probation office for youth in Texas, the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department covers a broad range of services, including juvenile detention; residential rehabilitation, including for substance abuse or sexual offenses; mental health services for youth and their families; and general probation services for juvenile offenders in the Houston area.

Lupe Washington

Lupe Washington, administrator for public affairs for the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department, will discuss the many career opportunities available in juvenile probation and offer tips on how to get those jobs after graduation during the Real Talk w/CJ on Thursday (Feb. 7) at 2 p.m. in the Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom. The presentation will be carried live on the web at cjcenter.org/live.

“To work in juvenile probation, we want people who have a passion and compassion for working with young people,” Washington said. “They need to be willing to listen and be non-judgmental. They need to do thorough evaluations and have a heart for kids.”

Harris County Juvenile Probation has about 1,200 employees, who handle approximately 16,000 referrals annually for youth from 10-17 years old with offenses ranging from misdemeanors, such as theft over $50, criminal mischief and simple assaults, to felonies, such as capital murder, robbery, and aggravated assault.

In addition to over 270 juvenile probation officers, the department employs a wide variety of professionals, including social workers, psychologists, nurses, psychiatrists, and budget officers, to name a few. There are many career paths available in the agency, but it also serves as a stepping-stone into other jobs, such as the DEA, FBI, and U.S. Marshals Service.

The department operates four facilities, including the juvenile detention center serving high risk youth before trial; the leadership academy in Katy, a secure, residential facility for boys; the Harris County Youth Village, a non-secure residential unit for boys and girls in Seabrook; and the Burnett Bayland Rehabilitation Center in southwest Houston, which provides specialized treatment programs for drug offenders, sex offenders, psychiatric stabilization cases, and general populations. Individuals with at least 60 college credit hours may apply to work as juvenile supervision officers at one of the county facilities.

“It’s pretty varied,” said Washington. “Even if you work with us in one area, you can also learn about other areas in the department.”

In addition to a four-year degree, probation officers also need one year of experience. Washington encourages students to get experience working with non-profits agencies or participating in an internship with a juvenile probation office while you are still in college to get a head start on your career.

“It can be volunteer work, or we count internship hours towards that experience,” Washington said. “Just go ahead and volunteer at an agency or in an area that you want to concentrate.”

Beto Chair Lecture To Welcome Texas State Prof

Marcus Felson, a professor of criminal justice at Texas State University, developed the routine activities theory in collaboration with Lawrence Cohen, which proposes that crime has a chance to take place anytime a potential offender comes into contact with a potential target in conditions conducive to crime.

When he visits the SHSU campus on Friday (Feb. 8), he will share aspects of his theory with members of the SHSU and Huntsville communities as part of his Beto Chair Lecture "How to Be a Crime Analyst." The presentation will be from 9:30-11 a.m. in the Criminal Justice Center’s Hazel B. Kerper Courtroom.

Felson’s lecture is based on a course he developed at Texas State University called “Crime Analysis,” which is designed for graduate-level students and introduces a step-by-step process for how to evaluate and synthesize local crime data and present it to others.

Unlike conventional methodological courses, this approach helps student to “think” about crime data and how to organize it so they can identify local crime trends and cycles, develop useable crime maps, and offer practical local police responses. The course incorporates routine activity theory, situational crime prevention, and problem-oriented policing, he said.

“I teach crime analysis so that my students can go into various walks of life and quickly reduce crime opportunities,” Felson said. “This focuses not on criminals but rather on crimes, their modus operandi.

“Like reporters, we consider who, what, when, where, and how, but we combine events to produce statistics that are very usable for preventing the next crime quickly,” he said. “What we do is so practical that most police officers in the classroom have stopped saying that criminology is irrelevant to crime as they know it.”

Felson is a leader not only in crime theory, but also to applying theory to reduce crime. He has published more than 80 works, including the books Crime and Nature (2006) and Crime and Everyday Life (2002). The latter was co-authored with Rachel Boba and is currently in its fourth edition. His work is increasingly applied to understand juvenile street gangs, co-offending, organized crime, and outdoor drug sales.

He received his doctorate and Master of Arts degree from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago.

In 2009, Felson was nominated for the “Stockholm Prize in Criminology” under the Swedish Ministry of Justice. In 2008, he received the “Ronald V. Clarke Award for Outstanding Contributions to Crime Analysis” from the Environmental Criminology and Crime Analysis group and, in 2002, he was presented the “Paul Tappan Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Criminology” from the Western Society of Criminology.

Dance Concert To Explore ‘American Dream’

A scene from one of the dances in the graduate thesis concert "It Begins With A Dream," choreographed by Kiera Amison and Laura Harrell. —Submitted photo

Two graduate students in the department of dance will present “It Begins With A Dream” on Thursday and Friday (Feb. 7-8), at 8 p.m. on both days in the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center Dance Theatre.

The choreography presented will journey through African American history and the pursuit of “The American Dream,” transporting audiences into the subconscious fantasy world of the mind, according to Kiera Amison, graduate teaching assistant and one of the two choreographers.

Amison’s “An American Dream” is a chronological narrative of African American history.

“Each of the seven sections depicts events, situations, or experiences of African American people,” she said. “The sections travel forward in time from the abolition of slavery, depicting the challenges and triumphs African Americans faced, as well as exploring the emotions of these shared experiences.”

“Fragments of a Mind,” choreographed by Laura Harrell, will feature work inspired by the exploration of the unconscious mind through dreams.

“Broken up into five sections, Harrell investigates her own personal dreams as a source for creativity,” Amison said. “The dancers and sets for each section send the audience into a surreal, dream like state. From flying, to fire, to emotionally complex relationships, each section showcases the abnormal, and sometimes illogical, nature of dreams.”

“It Begins With A Dream” serves as the culmination of the students’ research in attaining their Master of Fine Arts degree.

Basketball Booster Group To Sponsor Fundraising Auction

Sam Houston State’s women’s basketball booster club, The KatKrew, will show their support, and help raise much-needed funds, for this year’s team by hosting a silent auction on Saturday (Feb. 9).

The event will be held in conjunction with the doubleheader games against Lamar, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. with the women’s game, in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.

The silent auction will offer basketball fans the opportunity to bid on items such as tailgating packages, SHSU sporting events, kitchenware, pampering packages, a weekend getaway including a Magnolia Kennels coupon, jewelry by local artist Marilyn West, and many more items.

It will begin when the women's basketball team tips off and will run through the first half of the men's game, which is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m.

Winners will be announced at half time and can pick up their items after that.

The KatKrew was established seven years ago by head Coach Brenda Nichols as a way for people from the community to provide support to the women's basketball team and have fun, according to Martha Blume, KatKrew member.

“My husband and I had been fans of both the men’s and women’s basketball team for many years,” she said. “I have been a member since the beginning, and over the years I have met some terrific young women from the team and made some wonderful friends who are members of the group.”

The women’s basketball team is currently 7-1 and ranked No. 1 in Southland Conference standings.

“We have watched as the team has gotten better each year, and they are so deserving to have a season like they are having now because they have worked hard for it,” Blume said. “As a fan of this team for so many years, it was only natural to want to become more involved and help them, and as a proud SHSU graduate, it feels great to give back in this way.”

The money raised will assist the women's basketball team with travel expenses and summer scholarships.

Professors To Show Children The ‘Heart Of A Book’

This Valentine’s Day, Sam Houston State University library science professors will introduce children of all ages to an assortment of books they could fall in love with during the second annual “Let the Heart of a Book Touch the Heart of a Child!” book talk.

The event will be from 2-3:30 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 14) in Eleanor and Charles Garrett Teacher Education Center Room 279.

Led by library science department professors Rosemary Chance and Teri Lesesne, who are both national reviewers for the Association for Library Service to Children’s “Notable Children’s Books” list, the event will navigate attendees through 50 award-winning books from all genres published in 2012 for children, tweens and teens.

Because the review is open to participants of all ages, books will be grouped for ages 2 through second grade to explore picture books and for other youth to hear about displayed chapter books and novels.

“The goal is simply to make participants aware of the new children’s, tweens’, and young adult books that have received awards from prestigious agencies such as Caldecott and Newbery Medal,” said Marsha Harman, director for the Professional and Academic Center for Excellence.

“Additionally, it increases awareness of the process of book selection—approximately 2,000 are reviewed annually—the awards for youth books, and the importance of knowing literature of interest to our youth,” she said.

Attendees will receive a free children’s book from those reviewed. No books will be for sale.
The deadline for registration is 5 p.m. on Feb. 7. Those who register will also receive a certificate of attendance that will be e-mailed within a few days of the event.

Although the event is primarily for SHSU students, faculty, and staff, participants from the community are welcomed to register. The presentation is directed toward adults, although children are not prohibited, Harman said.

Submit Update Items Here

In order to assist members of the Sam Houston State University community in publicizing events, the SHSU Communications Office (Today@Sam) is now requesting that students, faculty and staff submit information about events, accomplishments or ideas for feature stories online.

Submission criteria and guidelines, including deadlines, have now been placed online, at http://www.shsu.edu/~pin_www/guidelines.html. This information is also accessible through the “Submissions” link in the right-hand navigation on Today@Sam.

From there, those submitting ideas can access forms that will allow them to provide detailed information about their idea, as well as attach event calendars, vitas/resumes or photos, depending on the type of submission.

Ideas submitted to the SHSU Communications Office are directly utilized in several ways: as news stories, “slider” or SHSU home page stories, hometown releases, and on the Today@Sam calendar.

If your submission qualifies for distribution, we will either contact you for more detailed information, or we will edit the information using SHSU/journalistic style and forward the final release to the appropriate media.

All information is verified before release, so please provide complete, accurate and timely information. Please type all responses in appropriate upper and lower cases.

For more information, contact the Communications Office at 936.294.1836 or today@sam.edu.